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According to The Wall Street Journal, The Legend of Zelda will be headed to mobile in the future. Following the great successes of Pokemon GO and Super Mario Run this may come as little surprise, but it’s certainly awesome to hear nonetheless! The game will reportedly come after the release of Nintendo’s Animal Crossing mobile game, which will reportedly release in the second half of 2017, leading many to believe The Legend of Zelda title will release in early 2018. There’s no word on what the game will be, and while a port of a classic LoZ title would be amazing (A Link to the Past please!), so far all of Nintendo’s games have been original titles. There’s also no word on whether this game will be free to play (like Pokemon GO or Miitomo) or not (Super Mario Run had a hefty $10 price tag for full admission!).

The timing of the news is certainly interesting with E3 beginning in less than a month (June 13-15). 2016’s E3 included news from Bethesda concerning their mobile game Fallout Shelter coming to PC, so E3 mobile game news wouldn’t be unheard of. The speculation on what the Zelda title may be is perhaps even more fun than the game will be itself, with TechRadar detailing some great possibilities including a cooking game, puzzle game and an online multiplayer title in the vein of Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS.

Whatever it may end up being, one thing is for sure – it’s an exciting time to be a Nintendo fan!

Square Enix’s Game Boy Advance classic “Final Fantasy Tactics Advance” is coming to the Wii U VC in NA tomorrow, while EU was already confirmed to get the game this week. This was the first game between Nintendo and SE after their falling out in the 90’s and received critical praise. The game is not a direct sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics but a separate game with its own story. Hopefully this is just the start of more Square Enix games on the Wii U Virtual Console outside Japan. We hope to see Final Fantasy VI ( GBA and SNES versions), Chrono Trigger (SNES and DS versions) and The World Ends With You.

Have you ever watched a Bond film and thought “that’s what I want to do”? Well, you might change your mind after you play Alpha Protocol. Not because the game is specifically bad, but because you’ll get a feel of what being a spy in the field is actually like.

Alpha Protocol is an action role-playing stealth game. What a mouthful, but accurate. It was released in 2010, and for a four year old game it feels…older. That’s not a bad thing, mind you. Most gamers would say their favorites are from a generation of consoles that are no longer distributed, but those games are chosen quite often out of nostalgia. On the one hand those games were the best of their time, but on the other hand they fall short compared to some modern innovations. The point here is that Alpha Protocol feels like one of those games. Something you loved for what it was back when you played it the first time, but over the years it has lost its edge.

To start, Alpha Protocol is truly a spy story. You are Michael Thorton, a new recruit in the Alpha Protocol program, and your job is to serve your country and stop the bad guys. Sounds simple enough given this is the idea behind more than few games. However, you are a spy. Your job is to get things done with minimal exposure. Whether you kill everyone in your way or just leave them with a tortuous headache, no one should know you’re there. Stealth is a great game mechanic, and Alpha Protocol does a great job of using it. Except for the bugs.

Let me talk about those for a moment because most of the issues I had with this game stem from bugged stealth mechanics. There were times when I would be crouched behind a wall, completely out of sight and fully buffed in sound dampening, and taking a few steps alerted a guard more than ten feet away. This would then alert every guard on the map. And if I should come out of cover and actually be seen, one guard would be enough to expose my location to every guard who would then proceed to start shooting. It’s easy enough to rid yourself of guards and turn off an alarm, but in a minute I’ll tell you why this was such a problem.

This game is good. It’s hard to call it great, and at times it isn’t all that fun, but it’s good. Agent Thorton is betrayed on his first assignment for Alpha Protocol and is set on a path to make things right. Here is where my favorite aspect of the game comes in. Choice. As Thorton you get to choose what happens. How you interact with others can determine how they respond to you and your actions. Gaining friendship has advantages, but so does rivalry. Who you get on your side can change the outcome; deciding who to ally with and who to piss off, that’s the trick. This game requires you to pay attention. Between gathered intelligence, dossier information, and other tidbits you collect along the way there is an abundance of knowledge. Knowing where you’re going, why you’re going there, and who you’re facing will make things far easier. The game doesn’t do all the thinking for you. The missions you choose to do, and the order you choose to do them in, also has impact.

That’s all great, but how do you actually play? It’s simple enough. There is combat, stealth, hacking, and collecting. In combat you can put points into different weapons: shotguns, SMGs, assault rifles, pistols, and hands. There are also gadgets; from grenades, to flash bangs, to health kits, you can carry a minimal set into missions and use them for different situations. Stealth, while not a requirement in mission, is a good way to get all that you want. Hacking is dealt with in three ways: computers, keypads, and safes. Hacking a computer requires finding a series of non-moving letters and numbers amongst a stream of flashing figures. A keypad is simply hacked by matching numbers is ascending order to their circuit. A safe is a lock picking screen where you move pins into position and click them in place. Collecting is just what it sounds like. Make sure you explore every room because information, money, and security systems may be hiding anywhere (which is useful when you are lacking cash to buy that armor you want). You will spend the majority of the game working on these skills, getting used to being in cover and sneaking into position, only to reach “boss” fights and the final mission.

Remember when I said how bugged the stealth system was? Here is where that becomes important. Boss fights, including most of the final mission, are tough. Add in the fact that stealth becomes useless and they get tougher. Here, fight a helicopter that can shoot you through cover, never loses target lock, and you have to fire one RPG at a time at it and those RPGs are scattered across the map. On top of that, here are five men who are going to shoot you, chase you, and know where you are because the helicopter never loses target lock. And if one enemy knows where you are, they all do. It’s infuriating.

I will say that I had fun with this game. The story pulls you in, and you feel like a true spy when things go right. The stealth is fantastic, when it works. The characters are ranging, and often have unexpected stories. I plan to try it again, make some different choices and see what happens, but I do like where my initial instincts lead. And that’s good. This isn’t a game that says “here, make a choice” and then gives you a cookie cutter ending. Who you decide to be will change the path, and that’s nice to see.

There are other things I could cover. How bad targeting is, how wonky movement can be, how bad pathing is for NPCs, how many boss fights I won because of glitches…

If I were to recommend this game it would be lightly. If you like stealth games and spy stories try it out. If you don’t, skip it. Alpha Protocol requires dedication. It asks you to sit down, pay attention, and accept that things will not always go the way you want. You may do a bit of reloading, but know that the only save option is auto saves.

With all that said, you can always use brute force, and then stealth doesn’t matter so much. It will take more time, you’ll face more enemies, and you may lose out on some of the finer points, but at least you’ll know why all the guards are after you.

In a world full of mobile apps and games it’s hard for a platformer to rise above the rest, but what Lisa Rye and Stirfire Studios have created here manages to do just that. The game they have created, Freedom Fall, is more than just a platformer, it’s a game with a real rich sense of humour and a massive heart.

The game started as a personal project of Lisa’s but was picked up by Stirfire Studios as a commercial release upon her move to the company. Freedom Fall was developed in Perth, Australia, and will debut at this year’s PAX Expo Australia in June. It’s currently in Beta on Desura here and can be upvoted on Steam Greenlight here.

In “Freedom Fall” you play as Marsh, the ‘hero’ of the tale. He find himself imprisoned in a tower where the only way to go is down (and sometimes across!) in order to escape. The premise is fairly simple yet very well executed; move downwards avoiding traps, spikes and even a mechanical shark, but this isn’t what sets the game apart from other platformers, it’s the character and heart of the game the creators have imbued in Freedom Fall.

This character comes mainly in the form of the Princess Emph, the daughter of the king and designer of the many dangers in Freedom Fall. After being locked up herself and finding the tower boring she escapes and decided to redecorate and make it her own. Her character really brings the charm and entertainment to the game in a creepy little girl meets Glados (from Portal) kind of way! She tells her story and interacts with the player through messages written on the walls of the tower, developing the story as you progress through the various stages. What results from this clever storytelling is an experience rarely seen in mobile games – it provides a great deal of humour and emotional investment in such a deceptively simple package.

In terms of gameplay Freedom Fall excels once again. With simple controls and levels varying in direction and challenge and a few pace changes like the mechanical shark it manages to keep the player invested in the game without completely overpowering Emph’s narrative. It also manages to keep this investment without sacrificing any gameplay mechanics. Apart from navigating traps and dangers the player may gather bolts to build several items to help the player traverse the traps such as a parachute and wings to give an extra boost when jumping. These bolts can be found throughout levels and in greater quantities in small side rooms, often giving hints and tips for the next challenge via wall messages. The game also supports two different endings and branching difficulty decisions. As the player moves downward they will reach many crossroads, offering ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ obstacles. The easy choice will of course be less difficult but also will offer less bolts and no side rooms, whereas those who brave the harder traps may find themselves better appeared for the many obstacles ahead. This relatively simple choice gives the player a sense of control and again does something not seen a lot in a mobile package.

The visual style of the game is quite pleasant, with most of it being hand drawn. The simplistic design and implementation works well on any screen from a laptop or desktop to a much smaller mobile touch screen. The soundtrack for the game works well with the fast paced style of game. Freedom fall runs quite well on both platforms with no problems or bugs encountered in my playthrough.

In summation Freedom Fall is quite a fun and entertaining game, perfect for on the go platforming with added heart, or sitting down to enjoy on a bigger computer screen. Regardless of how you play the game, what Lisa and Stirfire Studios have created is quite clever and unique, totally deserving of any gamers time.

You can check out this game at PAX Australia in June, and it will be available to download and play from the 19th of July!

Today is a sad day for many gamers out there. GamePro Magazine will be shutting down completely on December 5th. A spokesman from IDG (International Data Group) had this to say to everyone regarding the matter.

“…the ad dollars just weren’t there, and unfortunately layoffs of staff are being implemented. Fans of GamePro online will be able to access the latest games news, reviews, and ‘how-tos’ from the PCWorld editorial team. Visitors to gamepro.com will be redirected to the PCWorld GamePro channel on pcworld.com“

GamePro has been around since 1989, printing out a new issue of their magazine every month with the latest in video game news and reviews of the most recent blockbuster games. It is a shame that such a magazine is wrapping up after having been involved in the industry for so long. All of us within the video game industry wish all of the staff that worked with GamePro Magazine the best in their future endeavors.